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Showing posts with label Stacy McAnulty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stacy McAnulty. Show all posts
Saturday, December 21, 2019
MG End-of-the-World-Maybe Novel Is a Fun, Upbeat Read
7:28 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Elle Dross has been practicing for the Apocalypse for years thanks to her prepper grandfather. She doesn't really believe in its inevitably, though, until she learns that a discredited Harvard professor is predicting that an asteroid will hit Earth in April. It's possible the guy isn't totally legit, but what if he's right? What if Grandpa Joe is right? As scary as the end of the world could be, Elle knows her family would survive just fine. So would her BFF Mack. He might be blind, but he's run enough drills with her grandpa to know what to do. Bonus: Elle won't lose him to the blind school he plans to transfer to next year. As for the rest of their middle school, their classmates, and all their drama? The asteroid can blow it all to smithereens for all Elle cares.
Except. Maybe it's her duty, as one of the few who believe in the prediction, to warn the people around her. Before she knows it, she's running a secret doomsday club and printing an underground newsletter. Elle and her friends are prepared for anything—or are they? As life changes around them, they all have to figure out how to deal with impending life shake-ups. And some of those can be even more frightening than an asteroid hurtling towards Earth ...
Despite its rather dark premise, The World Ends in April by Stacy McAnulty is an upbeat, funny story that's mostly about friendship. The characters are likable and relatable; it's easy to care about their problems and their fates. Middle schoolers will relate to the theme of change, both in its inevitability and in its sometimes frightening nature. Even though I'm not the book's target audience, I still really enjoyed this sweet, fun novel. I especially appreciated the endnotes McAnulty includes, which give real, practical advice on emergency preparation as well as warning kids about how to find reliable information sources.
(Readalikes: Um, nothing is coming to mind. You?)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for scary situations/ideas
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Top Ten Tuesday: FALLing for New Books
2:05 PM
A lot of fun Top Ten Tuesday topics come up during any given year, but my hands-down favorites are the seasonal reading prompts. It's always fun to think about what I want to read in the upcoming months and it's even more enjoyable to see what books other bloggers are excited about. The more the merrier, guys, so why don't you join in the fun? All you have to do is click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read a few guidelines, make your own list, and then sit back and enjoy wandering around the book blogosphere checking out other people's posts. Warning: keep Goodreads open because you'll be adding a lot of great-sounding reads to your "I Need to Read it NOW" list.
I'm thrilled to have been selected as a YA fiction judge for the first round of The Cybils Awards. I've never done this before, so I'm not exactly sure what it entails besides reading a lot of teen novels! I assume that's what I'll be doing for most of the Fall, but since nominations don't open until November 1st, I don't have any specific titles to share. In the meantime, then, here are the Top Ten Books on My Fall TBR List:
YA/Middle Grade
1. The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys (coming October 1, 2019)—I love Sepetys' historical fiction, so I've been eagerly waiting for this one to come out. It's a love story set in Madrid after the country's Civil War. I can't wait!
2. Slay by Brittney Morris (out today, September 24, 2019)—When a conflict inside the Black Panther-inspired video game she secretly designed causes the death of a player, 17-year-old Kiera Johnson is thrust into a real-life battle that threatens the safe world she thought she had created for herself and other Black gamers. Billed as Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give, this YA novel sounds intriguing and timely.
3. The World Ends in April by Stacy McAnulty (out now)—As the granddaughter of a doomsday prepper, Eleanor knows she will survive the apocalypse just fine. But what about her BFF, Mack? Before she knows what's happening, Eleanor has become the president of an End of the World club at her school. No matter what happens with the approaching apocalypse, her life is definitely changing. This MG offering sounds fun. Count me in, for sure!
4. Color Me In by Natasha Diaz (out now)—I've always been intrigued by stories about struggles with racial identity, even before my husband and I adopted our bi-racial daughter ten years ago. Now I'm especially drawn to them and this YA novel, about a bi-racial teen finding her way around her Black and Jewish roots, sounds exceptional.
5. The Grey Sisters by Jo Treggiari (out today, September 24, 2019)—A trio of friends head to the mountains to visit the site of the plane crash that took their siblings' lives in order to find closure. While they search for answers, they meet a mountain dweller searching for help. Their meeting will change all of their lives. I love a good survival tale; The Grey Sisters sounds like that and more.
Adult
6. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (out October 8, 2019)—This historical novel, about an Englishwoman living in small-town Kentucky during the Depression who decides to become a book deliverer for Eleanor Roosevelt's traveling library campaign, sounds compelling.
7. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (out today, September 24, 2019)—This sweeping rags-to-riches family drama sounds like one I will really enjoy.
Of course, I can't make a TTT list without including a few mystery/thrillers:
8. The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (out November 5, 2019)—On the day she turns 25, Libby Jones finds out not just who her biological parents are, but also that she has inherited their posh home in London. She soon discovers that the house has a dark, haunting history ... I love a ghostly story, especially around Halloween time. This one sounds like it will fit the bill perfectly!
9. One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (out October 1, 2019)—When a woman is offered a house-sitting gig at a luxurious beach home, she jumps at the chance. The more she learns about a 30-year-old mystery connected to the home, the more intrigued she becomes ... Another creepy house story - yaaassss! I want them all!
10. Before the Devil Fell by Neil Olson (out October 8, 2019)—This is another novel that sounds like a great spine-tingling Halloween read. It concerns a man who returns to the hometown he fled in the wake of disturbing rumors about his mother and her "coven." His assumption that his mother's interest in witchcraft was just a passing hippie phase is dissolved as he finds disturbing clues in his family history that hint at a much lengthier association with New England witchcraft.
There you have it, ten books I'm looking forward to reading this Fall. How about you? What's on your list? I'd truly love to know. Leave a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on yours.
Happy TTT!
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